Music Video: Video before 2000- Changing representations

Music videos prior to the year 2000 played a significant role in shaping representations within the music industry.
Early videos were highly experimental, often drawing on a mixture of live performance footage, abstract visuals and narrative content.
Recognise that the aesthetics and representational strategies used in these videos reflected the music industry’s views on gender, race, and sexuality at the time.
Note that the artists, and the way they were represented in their videos, often became synonymous with their music.

Understand that the launch of MTV in 1981 dramatically transformed the music video industry, providing a dedicated platform for showcasing music videos.
Realise that MTV initially faced criticism for under-representing black artists, a situation that gradually improved, particularly with the influence of artists such as Michael Jackson.
Understand that MTV played a pivotal role in creating an international ‘visual language’ for pop music, shaping fashion and teen culture in the process.

Similar to other forms of media, music videos utilise a range of semiotic elements such as costume, editing, setting, and camera angles to convey specific representations.
Grasp that the visual elements of a music video can be used to portray a narrative that supplements or contradicts the song’s lyrical content.
Reflect on how these visual symbols are coded to convey concealed meanings, cultural references, artist identities or personas.

Learn that early music videos frequently used stereotyped and often sexualised representations of women, reflecting wider societal views of the time.
Remember that male artists were often portrayed as being in control, while women were commonly presented in submissive roles.
Despite this, also understand that several artists, most notably Madonna, challenged these gender roles within their music videos, becoming icons of female independence and power.

Notice how the changing societal norms and values influenced the representation within music videos over time.
Be conscious of how the societal shifts towards gender equality, acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and non-discrimination of races filtered into the music industry’s outputs.
Understand that the representational evolution in music videos has created a platform to highlight issues and provoke discussion in a way that would have been less possible before 2000.